With the recent emergence of many important specialized product niches in the food marketplace, and the development of many non-traditional flour substances and dough products, commercial baking is going through a sea-change revolution. In particular, growth segments in the baking industry now involve the creation of healthful products that are “gluten-free,” “wheat-free,” “dairy-free,” “egg-free,” “vegan,” and “allergy-friendly.”
The development of such products often requires new approaches to both product formulation and product manufacture. Most notably, the elimination of traditional baking ingredients such as wheat, barley, rye, butter, and eggs cause manufacturing problems unforeseen in traditional bakery manufacturing. As these customary basic ingredients are central to the baking tradition, it is difficult to produce dough-based baked goods, such as cookies, crackers, and pretzels, without using the traditional wheat ingredients, which contribute gluten, or dairy products, such as milk and eggs, which provide texture, emulsification, and cohesion.
Yet, for health reasons, many consumers, need to eliminate gluten, dairy, animal products, and other substances that naturally occur in traditional bakery offerings, but that cause allergic reactions, disease, or offend modern ethical sensibilities. In particular, gluten produces an allergic reaction, or an autoimmune reaction know as celiac disease among an increasing number of individuals, giving cause to their need for “gluten-free” baked goods. To meet the needs of these important emerging markets, food companies are developing and manufacturing complex new doughs with properties that are substantially different from traditional mixtures.
Long-standing baking knowledge and manufacturing technology is dependent on the gluten properties of wheat based products and the properties imparted to dough by animal products such as milk and eggs. Non-traditional flour substances, such as brown rice flour, quinoa, nut flours, and dried vegetable flours and vegan dough prepared without the use of animal products all require new manufacturing processes and create substantially different products. In particular, conventional dough depositor production equipment is often inadequate to deal with the increasingly complex and difficult to manufacture dough that is created for vegan or gluten-free products. Uncommon product ingredients often result in tacky, tough, and inflexible dough which requires an entirely different type of manufacture.
When making certain products such as crackers, gluten-free or vegan recipes often create manufacturing problems that are associated with the reduced ability of the associated dough to retain water or deliver a symmetrical “spread” on the baking sheet. Broadly speaking, the traditional gluten levels, such as found in wheat flour, create a lighter dough with the oil and water contained in the product recipe being fully emulsified and texturizer by the gluten and any eggs or dairy products used in the recipes. Thus traditional gluten cracker dough made with animal products has a low density, a low level of stickiness, an airy texture. Accordingly, for example, when traditional methods are used to make crackers, the dough quickly spreads out for a short distance in a uniform manner when it is deposited onto a baking sheet, and it is then ready for baking.